Pages

A natural oil found in oregano could help fight deadly hospital superbug MRSA, early research has indicated.

Scientists have discovered that the herb, commonly used in cooking, could eradicate the deadly infection from hospital wards. A team at the University of the West of England in Bristol, working with partners in India, found that tiny quantities of carvacrol, a naturally occurring compound in oregano, is a more effective antimicrobial agent than 18 pharmaceutical drugs it was compared against. The discovery could lead to a new defence in the fight against hospital infection.

Carvacrol has been found to contain potent anti-fungal and antibacterial properties with a range of medicinal uses. It can sterilise septic water, kill giardia, treat fungal infections such as candida and rivals pharmaceutical antibiotics such as streptomycin and penicillin in its ability to eliminate microbes.

Research into the medicinal properties of oregano has been led by Biolaya Organics, a company that specialises in the conservation and sustainable production of Himalayan medicinal herbs. Set up by British environmentalist Ben Heron in 2007, the award-winning company works with villagers to encourage sustainable methods of farming in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Oregano grows in abundance in the region's high alpine valleys.

Biolaya is now working to publish its research in a scientific journal and find partners to develop oregano oil-based soaps and sprays.

Consumers are wasting billions of pounds on 'quack' foods that promise to help them lose weight, a nutritional expert has warned.

New legislation must be enforced to prevent the deception, Prof Michael Lean, of University of Glasgow said, as the marketing of food stuffs do not face the same stringent controls as medicines.

Writing in the British Medical Journal online, he said marketing foods as 'low fat' and 'helps lower cholesterol' have to be substantiated under current rules and labelling foods as preventing or treating disease is illegal, but 'huge numbers' of such claims are still being made overtly or implied.

Prof Lean wrote: "Unscrupulous trading is most commonly linked to obesity. In 2000, $35bn (£22bn; €28bn) was spent in the United States on weight loss products. Many of these products use false and unsubstantiated claims, enticing seven per cent of the entire population to buy them every year."

He said only appropriate diets, exercise, licensed drugs such as orlistat and sibutramine along with bariatric surgery which includes stomach stapling and gastric bands, are safe and effective. Prof Lean hopes new European Union (EU) Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices, adopted this year in UK, will finally protect vulnerable consumers who are tricked into to buying useless food products or supplements in attempts to combat their disease.

Attention spans have halved to just five minutes over the last decade, with young people the worst at maintaining concentration, new research claims.

The pressures of modern life are affecting our ability to focus on the task in hand, with work stress cited as the major distraction, it said. Declining attention spans are causing household accidents such as pans being left to boil over on the hob, baths allowed to overflow, and freezer doors left open, the survey suggests. A quarter of people polled said they regularly forget the names of close friends or relatives, and seven per cent even admitted to momentarily forgetting their own birthdays.

The study by Lloyds TSB insurance showed that the average attention span had fallen to just 5 minutes, down from 12 minutes 10 years ago. But the over-50s are able to concentrate for longer periods than young people, suggesting that busy lifestyles and intrusive modern technology rather than old age are to blame for our mental decline.

A substance found in red wine could help to mend damaged backs. New research shows that resveratrol slows down the rate at which discs in the spine degenerate.

Scientists found that injecting the substance into injured backs stopped further damage to the cartilage in the discs. So far the results have been seen only in animal studies, but it's hoped the red wine ingredient could help thousands of people who suffer pain from worn discs. Up to 85 per cent of adults in Britain have back pain at some point in their lives.

Many develop problems because supportive muscles waste away through lack of use, often caused by sitting at computers all day. This can cause long-term damage to the soft discs which act as cushions between the vertebrae, the bony joints in the spine. The latest research, published in the journal Spine, suggests that injecting the red wine ingredient could help.

Staff whose managers have the worst leadership skills are more likely to develop heart disease than those whose supervisors offer better support.

Researchers found that the higher senior managers were rated, the lower was the risk of a serious heart problem or death among their rank and file.

But the association between poor leadership and the risk of serious heart disease strengthened the longer an employee worked for the same boss.

The study, to be published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine, said this suggests the effect of bad leadership could be cumulative. If a direct cause and effect is confirmed by further research then managers' behaviour should be targeted in a bid to stave off employee health problems.

Psychologist Anna Nyberg, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, said this could focus on improving bosses' ability to provide clear objectives, communicate effectively and show consideration for staff.

Pop into your local supermarket and you'll see plenty of people studying the labels to gauge which food is the healthiest, lowest in fat or least calorific.

But I think they're missing the point.

In theory, the traffic light warnings on food and GDAs (guideline daily amounts) help people make healthy choices by flagging up the fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt content. But instead, we're getting in a real mess with nutritional labels. There is a much simpler answer.

Rather than obsessing over every dish's fat and sugar content, we need to get back in touch with savouring food; a far better solution to the crisis of obesity and illness through poor diet.

Reality TV is to blame for a rise in psychiatric problems where the sufferers become convinced their own lives are being played out in front of the cameras, experts say.

The phenomenon has been dubbed Truman syndrome, after hit movie The Truman Show, in which Jim Carrey plays the unwitting star of a lifelong reality show. Psychiatrist Ian Gold said reality TV shows such as I'm A Celebrity..., with their ability to turn strangers into intimates, may add critically to the psychological pressure on people who already have underlying problems.

Dr Gold, a philosophy and psychology professor at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, stressed that he was not saying reality shows made healthy people delusion, but added: 'At the very least, it seems possible to me that people who would become ill are becoming ill quicker or in a different way.'

Researchers in London described a Truman syndrome patient in the British Journal of Psychiatry in August. The 26-year-old postman 'had a sense the world was slightly unreal, as if he was the eponymous hero' in The Truman Show, the researchers wrote.

Britons' reluctance to go to the doctor may explain poor cancer survival rate.

The British stiff upper lip could account for the country's poor showing in the European cancer survival league – but no one knows for sure, the Government's cancer tsar has warned.

Professor Mike Richards, the national cancer director, said thousands of lives could be saved in Britain if patients consulted their doctors sooner with suspect symptoms and were diagnosed and treated more quickly. Ignoring symptoms such as a lump in the breast, blood in the faeces or a persistent cough could be a death sentence.

Up to 11,000 deaths from cancer could be prevented every year if Britain improved its survival rates to match the best-performing countries in Europe, according to figures published yesterday by Cancer Research UK. Asked to explain the gap with Europe, Professor Richards said: "It is a very interesting question to which we do not have the answer. We may be too stoical – I don't know."

"We know that cancer treatment in Britain has improved vastly in recent years and we are now beginning to see the impact on our survival rates. But we have still got work to do if we are going to catch up with the rest of Europe," he said. "I believe that if we can tackle delays in diagnosing cancer, we will be able to save thousands more lives in the future."

Professor Richards authored a review of "top-up" payments for cancer treatment – allowing individuals to pay privately for drugs not available on the NHS – which was published earlier this month, and recommended quicker access to new treatments.

He admitted Britain had been slow in the past to take up new drugs. But he added: "I don't believe that had any significant impact on survival rates. I am quite sure earlier diagnosis is far more important. I feel really strongly this could make a real difference."

Under a National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative, launched today, research is planned in conjunction with a number of countries "whose survival figures we trust" to examine differences in culture, attitudes and awareness that could affect attendance for diagnosis and treatment, he said. Work is also underway in the UK to improve public awareness of cancer, with pilot schemes in 20 primary care trusts run by the Improvement Foundation.

Taking vitamin A and E supplements does not lower your risk of getting cancer, according to an authoritative new study.

The antioxidant vitamins are known to help fight free radicals, which cause cell damage that can lead to cancer, but new research suggests they are ineffective at preventing the disease when taken in pill form. The study involved 14,641 male doctors, all aged 50 or over, who were split into four groups and given regular doses of vitamin A, E, both, or placebos.

Over eight years the cancer rates were similar for each of the groups. Even rates of prostate cancer, which many had hoped vitamin E would prevent, were unaffected by the supplements.

Howard Sesso, of the Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, who led the Physicians Heath Study, said: "The lack of an effect that we observe for vitamin E or C on cancer does convince us that these particular doses that we tested really have no role for recommendation for cancer prevention."

Marji McCullough, of the American Cancer Society, said that patients should get their nutrients from eating fruits, vegetables and grains, rather than taking pills.

"Well-conducted clinical trials such as this are rapidly closing the door on the hope that common vitamin supplements may protect against cancer," she said.

"It's still possible that some benefit exists for subgroups that couldn't be measured, but the overall results are certainly discouraging."

Vitamin D could boost the fertility of women suffering from ovulation problems, a new study has found.

The vitamin - found in oily fish and eggs - helped to restore regular periods, thereby improving the chances of conception. The women in the study suffered ovulation problems or were diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), where cysts form on the ovaries. The condition is thought to affect around one in five women in the UK and symptoms include irregular or no periods, problems getting pregnant, excess body hair and being overweight.

Of these, 13 suffered from PCOS, which was the main reason for their infertility. Only 7 per cent of the 67 women were found to have normal vitamin D levels while 66 per cent had low levels of vitamin D and 27 per cent were clinically deficient.

The researchers, led by a group from Yale University School of Medicine, said those with ovulation problems or PCOS were far more likely to be lacking in vitamin D than the other women. They suggested that women with these conditions should be given vitamin D to help restore their periods.

For most of us, treating minor health problems usually involves a trip to the local pharmacy or our GP. But what do medical specialists do when they succumb to ailments that fall within their particular range of expertise? To find out, we asked some leading health care professionals how they use their specialised training for a quick fix. Here, they pass on their inside knowledge.

COLD

Professor Ron Eccles, director of the Common Cold Centre, Cardiff University: 'As soon as I suspect I'm getting a cold - the first sign is usually a scratchy feeling at the back of the throat - I run as hot a bath as I can bear, and sit in it for at least 20 minutes.

'Very high temperatures can stop the cold virus in the nose from reproducing, killing the cold. Any hot, steamy environment will do; a sauna or steam room at your local gym or leisure centre is equally effective.'

SCIATICA

Robin Shepherd, acting chairman of the General Osteopathic Council: 'The other week I was moving some heavy crates around at home, when my muscles suddenly went into spasm and my back started to ache.

'To relieve the pain, I lay on my back with both knees bent and my feet on the floor, with a tennis ball under my back at the sorest point. I then pressed down hard on to the ball and rolled on this point - after about five minutes the muscles were relaxed again and the pain gone.'

usually a scratchy feeling at the back of the throat - I run as hot a bath as I can bear, and sit in it for at least 20 minutes.

'Very high temperatures can stop the cold virus in the nose from reproducing, killing the cold. Any hot, steamy environment will do; a sauna or steam room at your local gym or leisure centre is equally effective.'

A tomato a day could help fight endometriosis, a painful womb condition affecting two million British women.

Researchers have discovered that an antioxidant called lycopene - found in high concentrations in tomato products - may prevent the internal scarring caused by the disease. Experiments by U.S. scientists found lycopene cut by up to 90 per cent the chemical activity that leads to the build-up of scar tissue. Experts say a tomato a day, 8oz of tomato juice,150g of pasta sauce or one lycopene tablet a day is enough to raise levels of lycopene in the blood.

There is no cure for endometriosis and it can damage the fertility of sufferers, who include singer Louise Redknapp and TV presenter Anthea Turner. The problem arises when cells normally found in the womb lining attach themselves to other parts of the pelvic area, causing scar tissue called adhesions, pain and inflammation.

In a study, adhesive tissues such as those found in endometriosis were treated with lycopene in the laboratory. Lycopene is a nutrient that gives the red colour to tomatoes, watermelon and pink grapefruit.

A rare ancient breed of English apple is the source of a 'secret' food ingredient that could boost the heart health of millions.

It has been extracted from Evesse apples because they are a rich source of polyphenols that help increase blood flow and relax the arteries. Just a tumbler full of Evesse juice is the equivalent of eating 30 raw red-fleshed apples, but the effect makes the arteries 10 years younger than their actual age.

The ingredient, which has a neutral taste and odour, will be made as a liquid and powder and added to juices, yoghurts and other foods to help consumers maintain a healthy circulation. Scientific studies carried out by the Institute of Food Research, Norwich, show that Evesse works on arterial stiffness with 30 minutes, with the relaxing effect lasting for up to eight hours.

Regular consumption over five to six weeks leads to a gradual improvement in the baseline stiffness of the arteries. As people age, their arteries tend to stiffen and blood pressure rises which impedes blood flow around the body and means some people have a 'vascular' age older than their chronological age.

Independent trials that used Evesse as part of fresh fruit juices found the relaxing effect on the arteries of both older people and young healthy individuals.

Joining a support group could double a woman's chances of surviving breast cancer, research suggests.

Breast cancer patients who attended regular stress-busting sessions with psychologists were around half as likely to die from the disease as other women, a study found. The disease was also less likely to come back, and when it did, it took longer to recur, increasing the amount of high-quality time they had with their loved ones, the journal Cancer reports.It is thought the support the women received, including relaxation and problem solving techniques and advice on how to approach family and friends, helped thwart the cancer by cutting stress levels.

Although a link between patient support and quality of life has been made before, this study is the first to credit it with the ability to prolong life. Researcher Barbara Andersen (CORR) said: 'The results suggest that we can help breast cancer patients make positive steps that may help them live longer and make recurrence less likely.'

Professor Andersen, of Ohio State University, tracked the wellbeing of 227 breast cancer patients for an average of 11 years. At the start of the study, all had undergone breast surgery but the cancer had not spread. All received the usual medical treatment but half were also asked to attend regular group counselling sessions. Led by a psychologist, these included relaxation techniques and advice on how to avoid becoming too tired and how to approach family and friends for support.

The 26 sessions held over the course of a year also included some diet and exercise advice and information on how to deal with side-effects of cancer treatment. The cancer recurred in 62 of the women and 54 died. However, analysis showed the women who took part in the group sessions or 'intervention programme' we around half as likely to have died.

New research indicates that many probiotics are ineffective and some may even cause harm. Now scientists say we should switch to prebiotics.

Over the past two decades, it seemed that our guts had never had it so good. Probiotic products claiming to rid the body of the bad bacteria that causes illness burst on to the market and two million of us now swallow their promise of improved digestive health, provided by so-called “friendly bacteria”. We spend almost £350 million a year on drinks, yoghurts, powders and capsules, in the hope of improving our gut health. But is it money well spent? A growing number of experts think not. While they do not dispute that a balance of gut flora is beneficial, many believe that probiotics are not as helpful as was once thought.

Studies supporting the use of probiotics for general wellbeing, and as an additional support for people with specific illnesses, have been plentiful in recent years. This month, for instance, Swedish researchers revealed that a course of probiotics can offer protection for those with pneumonia. But critics are now doubting their usefulness. “In some areas, there is evidence that taking a probiotic supplement can be helpful,” says Anna Denny, a nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation. “But it is not clear-cut and not all probiotics are helpful to all people.”

The Russian Nobel prize winner, Élie Metchnikoff, is credited with having discovered probiotics at the beginning of the 20th century when he discovered that Bulgarian peasants who consumed milk containing fermenting bacteria appeared to enjoy extraordinarily good health.

It is now accepted among nutrition scientists that so-called friendly bacteria account for 10-15 per cent of bacteria in a healthy adult gut and that levels become depleted through a poor, low-fibre diet, or other factors such as stress, courses of antibiotics or illness. Proponents claim that probiotic supplements, which provide a regular shot of live, beneficial bacteria, help to top-up a body's natural supplies. But even those who were once self-confessed fanatics are questioning their place and proposing alternatives.

How a work out can lift those early winter blues

It's that time of year again when our spirits begin to droop as the days get shorter and darker. Our soggy, sunlight-starved summer is likely to swell the numbers, estimated at half a million people in the UK, who suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD).

It's believed that low light levels are responsible for leaving SAD sufferers feeling depressed, fatigued and sometimes craving carbohydrates and sweet foods from late autumn until early spring.

Get a natural high

As anyone who works out regularly knows, being active gives you a natural high through a combination of adrenalin, endorphins and oxygen being released in greater quantities in your body. Add in the neurotransmitter serotonin, which is generated in increased amounts through exercise, and you have a natural chemical pick-me-up. Exercise also keeps your immunity levels high, so you are also less likely to succumb to colds, coughs and bugs.

It's important at the outset to keep your self-image high. Put simply, when you feel out of shape, you tend to do things that do more harm than good, such as eating calorific comfort food and avoiding exercise.

There are internet forums for all kinds of illness. We explore whether you can rely the advice and information you can get from these sites

Health information on the internet used to be shaped by doctors. Now it's being shaped by patients. And it's patients, not doctors, who are making the real progress in providing health information that delivers what people really want to know. But how do you know if this information and advice is trustworthy, and worth heeding?

Many people will be familiar with, or have experienced, the following scenario. Your doctor delivers the news that you are suffering from a condition or ailment. After the initial shock has passed, you are hungry for information, and once back at home, type the condition into Google. In front of you appears reams upon reams of information, including countless forums where patients share advice and support. But how do you navigate through this information minefield; will reading other people's experiences prove beneficial, or instead deliver an unhealthy dose of fear, anxiety and misinformation?

Separating fact from fiction

Certainly, health consumers are not blind to the net's problems. Blatant commercial agendas which present opinion as fact, the downright barking bonkers, the health conspiracist - the net has them all. Six out of ten of us say in surveys that we know the net to be full of misinformation.

But we love it on so many counts. Immediacy, confidentiality, the linking with others, and most can navigate round its faults by more exhaustive searching and comparing of sites, for instance. And an overarching reason for the existence of these sites is the gap between what health professionals think we ought to know and our actual health information needs. After all, how many of us have emerged from the doctor's office feeling slightly confused about a diagnosis, and how it will affect our quality of life?

Acupuncturists, Chinese medicine practitioners and medical herbalists should be formally regulated to ensure they are "fit to practise", the Health Professions Council (HPC) told the Government today.

The professions are not currently subject to statutory regulation but the HPC formally recommended a system was introduced to make it easier to ensure people were "meeting standards".

HPC chief executive Marc Seale said: "The HPC has made a recommendation to the Secretary of State for Health advocating the regulation of acupuncturists, medical herbalists and traditional Chinese medicine practitioners.

"The HPC was set up in order to protect the public and we strongly believe that statutory regulation can more effectively assure that practitioners are meeting standards and are fit to practise."

A Department of Health steering group report in June said regulation was "in the public interest". It said it was important people had confidence that practitioners from these fields were "properly trained, understand the limits of their competence and know when and to whom to refer".

The report added: "There has also been widespread concern about the safety, in particular, of traditional Chinese medicines when inappropriately administered." The HPC already regulates 13 health professions, including chiropodists and podiatrists, dieticians, paramedics, physiotherapists, radiographers and speech therapists.

Listening to an MP3 player at its highest volume for one hour a day is enough to seriously damage people's hearing, according to a study for European politicians.

It claims being exposed to loud music could lead to people getting tinnitus, or ringing in the ears.

The condition already affects more than 3 million people in the UK and it's feared a million more are at risk. Studies by charities working with deaf people estimate that two thirds of 16 to 34-year-olds listen to music at very high volumes without knowing the risks.

David Brinn is 33 and from Chippenham in Wiltshire. Until a few years ago he loved listening to music on his MP3 players and would use his for around three hours a day. He admits he would turn his up high.

"In the gym when you are on the treadmill and your favourite song comes on I'd turn it up as loud as it goes," he said.

David owned half a dozen MP3 players, buying new ones hoping they would be louder. Three years ago doctors diagnosed him with tinnitus. He describes his condition as a "whistle blowing" in his ear constantly, when he's eating, sleeping and working.

Older "overlooked" treatments for irritable bowel syndrome may end up being the best option for patients, research suggests.

Fibre, anti-spasmodic drugs and peppermint oil were all found to be effective in a review of the evidence. Guidelines on IBS should be updated in light of the findings, the researchers say in the British Medical Journal.

A UK expert said there had been a general feeling among doctors that the therapies "didn't work".

Between 5% and 20% of the population is estimated to suffer from IBS which is characterised by abdominal pain and an irregular bowel habit. The exact cause of the condition is unknown and recommendations for treatment include dietary advice, antidepressants and alternative therapies. Fibre, antispasmodics and peppermint oil are used to treat IBS, but evidence of their effectiveness is unclear because of conflicting results from studies, the researchers said.

They have also been overlooked because of the focus on newer more expensive drugs which ended up being withdrawn due to lack of efficacy and safety concerns, they added.

Ministers have agreed that six artificial food colourings should be phased out after research found a link with hyperactivity in children.

The Food Standards Agency called for the voluntary removal earlier this year while European regulators work to agree a continent-wide ban. The food colourings should now be phased out by 2009. Campaigners said it was good news, although they accepted many companies had stopped using them already.

In September 2007, UK researchers reported children behaved impulsively and lost concentration after consuming a drink containing additives. In the study, 300 children were randomly given one of three drinks, either a potent mix of colourings and additives, a drink that roughly matched the average daily additive intake of a child of their age or a "placebo" drink with no additives.

Their hyperactivity levels were measured before and afterwards, and researchers found that the drink with the highest level of additives had a "significantly adverse" effect compared with the placebo drink.

The six colourings concerned are found in many products such as sweets, confectionery, processed food and takeaways. In light of the research, the FSA advised parents of hyperactive children to be aware of the potential risks of consuming the colourings.

A study of almost 360,000 people from nine European countries found waist size a "powerful indicator" of risk. Each extra 2ins (5cm) raised the chance of early death by between 13% and 17%. The New England Journal of Medicine study stressed GPs should regularly measure patients' waists as a cheap and easy way to assess health.

The link between waist fat and health problems has been established for some time, but the sheer size of the study gives scientists a far more accurate picture. The researchers, including some from Imperial College London, followed the volunteers, who were an average of 51 years old at the start of the study, for the next 10 years, during which time 14,723 of them died.

The standard measure of obesity, body mass index (BMI) remained a reasonable predictor of health problems, with those with a high reading more likely to die from cardiovascular disease or cancer.

However, the 'hip/waist ratio', a number produced by dividing the waist size by the hip measurement, and just the waist measurement on its own, were both good ways of sorting out those at highest risk.

Patient groups have launched a campaign to warn people against trying untested remedies.

Many of the organisations believe that misleading information on the internet is leading to an increase in the number of vulnerable people turning to alternative treatments that cost them a lot of money and do not work.

When Daniela Muallem was first diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis ten years ago conventional treatments were of limited help. She was left exhausted and immobile for periods. In desperation she turned to alternative treatments.

These included reflexology, applied kinesiology - which involved listening to the sound of vitamins she might be lacking - and seeing a nutritionist. At the time she felt she had nothing to lose by trying them - but now she feels cheated.

"I started these things with huge hopes," she said. "Week by week you are investing energy and time, but you are getting more and more demoralised because you are still not improving. Practitioners will often imply that it's sort of your fault - that if you had the right attitude it would be working."

It was a similar story for Jane Chippendale in Kent whose husband Mark has MS.

Tiny particles that may be toxic are being used in beauty creams without proper safety testing, a consumer group has claimed.

Nanoparticles, which are 80 times thinner than a human hair, are used by firms including Boots, The Body Shop, Avon, Nivea and Unilever, especially for UV filters in sunscreens.Some manufacturers believe the technology can deliver the benefits of products in a more effective way.

But critics say the size of the particles may allow them to permeate protective barriers in the body, such as those surrounding the brain or a developing baby in the womb. Their scale also changes the way they interact with other cells, which might lead to unforeseen toxic effects.

Following a report which raised concerns that some firms are not declaring their use of nanoparticles, Which? has called for the technology to be banned unless it is proved to be safe.Its concerns have been backed by Professor Dame Ann Dowling, of the Royal Society, the UK's independent science academy.

Half of all elderly women will suffer some form of fracture, studies show, in part because of the effects of osteoporosis, or brittle bone disease.

But scientists have found that Beta-alanine, an amino acid found in the body, can help to build muscle in older people, improving function by up to almost one third. The researchers believe that using the supplement regularly could allow elderly people to perform everyday tasks more easily and avoid falls, which can often lead them to need hospital care.

The study tested the supplement on 26 elderly men and women, the oldest of whom was 92 years of age, who were given daily dose of the acid for three months, and recorded their fitness levels at the start and end of the experiment. Those on the supplement saw their muscle performance improve by up to 29 per cent.

Dr Jeffrey Stout, PhD from the University of Oklahoma, who led the study, said: "This could have importance in the prevention of falls, and the maintenance of health and independent living in elderly men and women."

Dr Harald Stossier is the king of food intolerances. Head of the famous Viva Mayr clinic in Austria, and now also practising in London, he can spot a gluten intolerance or an adverse reaction to dairy products a mile off. So when he attributes my tiredness, depression and bloating to one kind of food I’m expecting the usual suspects.

''Fruit,’’ he says, smiling. ''Or rather, should I say, fructose.’’

Fruit? How on earth can anyone be intolerant of fruit? We are told to eat more fruit because it is so incredibly good for us. But for the estimated 30-35 per cent of the population who suffer from fructose malabsorption (FM), eating something as seemingly innocuous as an apple could cause bloating and stomach pains, fatigue and confusion, depression and anxiety and even sore, aching eyes.

Fructose is a sugar that occurs in varying degrees in fruit, while fructan (chains of fructose molecules) occurs in some vegetables and also in wheat. Usually these are processed in the small intestine but for people with FM, they pass largely unchanged into the large intestine where they wreak havoc.

''The sugars stay in the bowel and produce hydrogen or methane gas, hence the pain and gassiness,’’ explains nutritional therapist and lecturer Emma Wells. She believes a large proportion of her clients with irritable bowel syndrome or chronic fatigue have problems with fructose.

But how can it affect mood? Dr Stossier says that FM affects levels of the amino acid tryptophan, a precursor of serotonin, one of the major hormones that regulate mood and sleep. Many people, he says, are taking antidepressants unnecessarily when they just need to change their diet.

The good news is that the right diet can apparently switch off FM — and you don’t need to avoid all fruits all the time. Australian research (reported in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association) found that steering clear of foods high in fructose helped the majority of sufferers.

New research shows that there is hope for people with dementia, the key is to keep up their social life.

For many of us, there's little more bleak than the prospect of Alzheimer's disease - it's that idea of the loss of self that is so frightening. Yet a new study turns on its head the assumption that a good quality of life ends once Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia take hold. Not only does it indicate that those affected can lead fulfilling lives, but that there's something that will make happiness almost guaranteed: keep up the social life.

Dementia is the accelerated loss of brain cells, usually due to a disease such as Alzheimer's. It affects 750,000 people in the UK. This new study comes at a time when news stories about the need for treatments, and the decline of high-profile figures such as Iris Murdoch have consistently painted a picture of loss. Baroness Warnock, an expert in medical ethics, has controversially proposed euthanasia for dementia sufferers because of the strain they put on their families and public services.

But Cornelius Katona, a leading expert in old-age psychiatry from University College London's medical school, believes we should pay more attention to the factors that can make a difference to the lives of people affected by this potentially terrifying condition. And his research suggests that if we make sure the right activities and environments are available, we can give people with dementia a good quality of life without searching for elusive, expensive drugs.

World-weary cynics are rarely floored by grief when outcomes are not as sunny as the Pollyannas among us might hope.

WHAT struck me about Barack Obama's victory in the US Presidential elections this week was the optimism with which he opened and closed his emotional and intensely moving acceptance speech.

Suddenly the world seemed a little less grim. Hope was bursting on to the horizon. He began with the words, “America is a place where all things are possible”. And, in case there were any doubters in his ecstatic audience, ended with the chanted message: “Yes, we can”.

Well, who really knows whether that's true? Sceptics might call such optimism “hope in the face of reason”, and question how one man can possibly change all that is wrong with the United States and, indeed, with the world.

But optimism itself can be a surprisingly powerful force that is shown to extend lives and improve people's health and wellbeing. Optimism comes in two varieties: dispositional and situational. The former is hardwired. Some of us are just sunnier than others, no matter what our circumstances, thanks to the helpful deck of genes that fate dealt us when we were born.

Situational optimism, on the other hand, is what we feel when we use information to calculate success at a particular point - when the state of Virginia went for Obama for instance. What is curious (and contrary to our assumptions) is that pessimism is not the opposite of optimism. They are actually quite separate traits. And while optimism is good for our health, pessimism is not.

Doctors at Belfast City Hospital have reported the case of a girl whose hand warts disappeared after 12 days of daily treatment with the oil, which is rubbed into the skin.

Tea tree oil comes from the leaves of the melaleuca alternifolia tree, which is native to Australia. It has already been shown to have antiseptic benefits. Now the oil is thought to have anti-viral effects as well.

Warts are caused by infection with the human papilloma virus (HPV), which causes a hard material called keratin, found in the top layer of the skin, to grow too much - producing the classic hard texture of a wart.

More than half the brands of popular cod liver oil and omega 3 supplements do not contain the amount of active ingredients they claim on the label, according to the results of new tests.

Fish oil capsules are one of the UK's most popular nutritional supplements and have been shown by a number of studies to help maintain joint flexibility, keep the heart healthy and aid brain development.

But scientists from the new review website whatsinit.com tested 27 brands of the widely sold supplements - and found that more than half did not meet trading standards guidelines. The organisation, which claims to be the only independent website providing unbiased analysis of UK health supplements, says that one of the worst offenders was Tesco's High Strength Cod Liver Oil, which had just 79 per cent of active ingredient, EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), claimed on the bottle.

Meanwhile, the report found Boots Brain and Heart Health Omega 3 supplements contained only 84 per cent DHA and 87per cent EPA stated on the label. Seven Seas Pure Cod Liver Oil had 87per cent of active ingredient it was said to contain.

At the other end of the scale, Numark's Omega 3, Healthspan's Concentrated Omega 3 and Asda's Omega 3 contained higher levels of the active ingredient than claimed.

Whatsinit.com say the test results were analysed by independent laboratories and reviewed by experts. Products were considered to have failed if they contained less than 95 per cent of the active ingredients they claimed to have.Source - Daily Mail

An over-the-counter vitamin pill could slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease, according to a promising new study.

A six-month human trial will go ahead next year, after scientists found a form of vitamin B3 protected animals from memory loss associated with the condition. The vitamin tends to be found in foods that are good sources of protein such as red meat, poultry, fish and nuts.

High doses of the water-soluble supplement Nicotinamide, which is sold in health food stores, will be given to 70 people recently diagnosed with the degenerative condition in a trial due to start next year.

If a success, it could provide a cheap and effective treatment for the estimated 417,000 people in Britain diagnosed with Alzheimer's. There is currently no cure for any type of dementia.

The vitamin was first tested on mice by a team from the University of California, who have revealed their results in the Journal of Neuroscience. The team tested rodents modified to develop Alzheimer's using a water-maze and object recognition tasks over four months.They found that treated Alzheimer's mice performed at the same level as normal mice, while untreated Alzheimer's mice experienced memory loss.

Drinking one or two glasses of wine a week during pregnancy does not harm the mental development of the baby and is even linked with an overall improvement in the behaviour of toddlers, a major study found.

Heavy drinking while pregnant carries a high risk of serious health problems to the growing foetus but light drinking – defined as taking one or two units of alcohol per week or per occasion – produces no ill effects, the study of nearly 12,500 three-year-olds found.

Toddlers born to women who drank lightly during their pregnancy were found to have significantly fewer emotional problems and better cognitive skills than those born to mothers who abstained completely or drunk heavily.

Research into the drinking patterns of the mothers of 12,495 three-year-olds born in Britain found no evidence that drinking lightly at any stage of pregnancy has any discernible effect on the mental development of the foetus and baby. "Our research has found that light drinking does not increase the risk of behavioural difficulties or cognitive deficits [in the baby]," said Dr Yvonne Kelly of University College London, who led the study, published in the International Journal Of Epidemiology.

"Indeed, for some behavioural and cognitive outcomes, those born to light drinkers were less likely to have problems compared to children of abstinent mothers, although those born to heavy drinkers were more likely to have problems compared to children of mothers who drank nothing while pregnant."

Probiotics could be used to protect critically ill patients from developing pneumonia, according to scientists.

The friendly bacteria can block the colonisation by dangerous bugs of the airways of ventilated patients, the Swedish study concluded. The probiotic solution performed just as well as normal antiseptics used to keep pneumonia-causing bacteria at bay, the journal Critical Care reported.Being more natural it could pose fewer side effects, the authors said.

Friendly bugsThe probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus plantarum 299 is normally present in saliva and is also commonly found in fermented products like pickles and sauerkraut. Although rare, some patients are allergic to the antiseptics normally used to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia, namely chlorhexidine.

There is also a very small risk of the pneumonia-causing bacteria developing chlorhexidine resistance. Pneumonia is a common complication in patients on breathing machines and occurs when harmful bacteria from the mouth, throat or breathing tube are inhaled into the lungs.

A bit of greenery near our homes can cut the "health gap" between rich and poor, say researchers from two Scottish universities.

Even small parks in the heart of our cities can protect us from strokes and heart disease, perhaps by cutting stress or boosting exercise.

Their study, in The Lancet, matched data about hundreds of thousands of deaths to green spaces in local areas. Councils should introduce more greenery to improve wellbeing, they said. Across the country, there are "health inequalities" related to income and social deprivation, which generally reflect differences in lifestyle, diet, and, to some extent, access to medical care.This means that in general, people living in poorer areas are more likely to be unhealthy, and die earlier.

However, the researchers found that living near parks, woodland or other open spaces helped reduce these inequalities, regardless of social class. When the records of more than 366,000 people who died between 2001 and 2005 were analysed, it revealed that even tiny green spaces in the areas in which they lived made a big difference to their risk of fatal diseases.

Although the effect was greatest for those living surrounded by the most greenery, with the "health gap" roughly halved compared with those with the fewest green spaces around them, there was still a noticeable difference.